KO_OP

KO_OP is a Canadian artist-run game studio cooperative based in Montreal.

KO_OP
Corporation
IndustryVideo games
Founded2012 (2012)
FoundersSaleem Dabbous
Bronson Zgeb
Headquarters
Montreal
,
Canada
ProductsGnog
Goodbye Volcano High
Websiteko-opmode.com

History

Studio director Saleem Dabbous and programmer Bronson Zgeb founded KO_OP in 2012 to make "visually arresting avant-garde games".[1] The studio is run as a workers cooperative with equal salary and decision-making between co-owners.[2][3] Dabbous and Zgeb used personal savings to launch the company and relied on work-for-hire to finance its own games. They struggled with inexperience in their over-scoped early projects, as they moved through a dozen prototypes and eventually cancelled two projects in full production.[1]

Gnog was nominated for Excellence in Visual Art at the 2016 Independent Games Festival[4] and released in 2017.[5] KO_OP also built "The Shard of Life", an expansion for Lara Croft Go, in 2016.[6]

KO_OP is currently developing a narrative-driven adventure game titled Goodbye Volcano High, which is scheduled for a 2021 release on the PlayStation 5,[7] PlayStation 4 and Steam.

References
  1. Sinclair, Brendan (October 18, 2016). "Inexperience as an advantage". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  2. McAloon, Alissa (March 12, 2019). "The 'equal pay and equal say' structure of the game dev studio KO_OP". Gamasutra. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  3. Klepek, Patrick (March 12, 2019). "Giving Workers Equal Power Isn't Radical. This Studio's Done It For Years". Vice. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  4. Cameron, Phill (February 10, 2016). "Road to the IGF: KO_OP's GNOG". Gamasutra. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  5. Couture, Joel (August 9, 2018). "Building the monstrous transforming puzzle heads of GNOG". Gamasutra. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  6. Priestman, Chris (December 21, 2016). "The independent studio behind some of Lara Croft GO's best levels". Kill Screen. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  7. Huerta, Marcela. "Goodbye Volcano High, an end-of-era love story, is coming to PS5". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
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